Hello Everyone!
I look forward to another full day of storytelling with you this coming Saturday.
This week bring special attention to your choice of words and the dynamic possibilities in speaking them. Read the linked article for inspiration and come ready to sound off!
http://novateller.com/images/Downloads/Word%20Choices.pdf
I hope this is the correct place to blog my thoughts...
ReplyDeleteAs an opener, I will summarize what I understood to be the practical implementation of the subjects mentioned in the syllabus, to wit:
Major subjects - Audience/teller relationship; interplay of silence, sound, movement and stillness; creation and exploitation of real and induced space; and use of vocal and verbal expression.
Minor subjects which were touched upon were preparation rituals before telling, warmups and some basic mime movement.
This list is by no means exhaustive, it just represents my individual takeaways from the session.
As is the case for everyone who participated in the class, some elements were more useful whereas others might have already been in my bag of tricks before the class.
Silence - wow! I have never shut up since learning to speak at 11 mos. and certainly not in front of a group of captive people who had to listen. This was, in fact, the first time it was suggested to me to use silence and it was slightly uncomfortable. It still is and I would not say I have fully internalized the possibilities inherent in silence. On top of that, the nature of stillness was not clear to me (if you recall, in my Baal Shem Tov story even when I was silent I made my hands tremble, therefore breaking the stillness). Interesting note - the word for "quiet" in German is "Stille" - so even in our (Germanic) language there is some linguistic connection between the two. Interesting, no?
In particular, the creation and use of space was for me a new world; my performance style has been exaggerated and hyper and finding the ability to create a reality in a small space - perhaps even without moving - was fascinating and has even already proved to be useful. I definitely want to maintain my present style, but having this other option would definitely be useful under certain situations (for example - South Asian audiences who don't "get" high energy (perhaps due to a fluid and stylized performance tradition of their own). It also is of assistance when it is impossible to create the reality one is trying to paint (my classic example is a wild horse - since there is no chance of actually simulating it, the only option is to create "negative space" around it which is of necessity understated!)
In the meantime, I am attempting to implement these techniques at various gigs, more for the practice than out of necessity. I find that it works well (excepting, perhaps, ECE audiences who need the action...)
In terms of voice - I found the exercise in "surprise" alliteration, consonance and assonance extremely helpful in trying to develop the ability to find those relationships on the fly; it is always possible to craft phrases beforehand, of course, but it is nice to be able to do it unexpectedly if the need or mood arises! I would like to think of some way to practice this, however, without a room full of comrades; I suppose closing my eyes, hitting "I Feel Lucky" and doing it with the first word that pops up could do the trick.
A word about the material - I made a conscious decision to use stories with which I was having difficulty (Monster over my bed; Yisroel and the Werewolf; Little Brother and Little Sister). These are stories which I have told in other venues and have not been happy with the results; in this sense I felt that perhaps implementing some of the techniques we worked with might help them.
I'm still not happy with the monster story; I felt that the Baal Shem Tov story is getting better but by millimeters, not even by inches (but we have 6 months to Halloween!, enough time to work on it). Little Brother is also an interesting case - I've told it, successfully, to younger audiences (without pushing for the shock). It seems I don't know how to shock and I have to work on that; this is a skill which I definitely want in my bag.
Thanks (directed both at the venerable instructor and to the valiant cohort) for three amazing workshops!
Thanks for that review Chuck! Remember Lao Tzu:
Delete"We mold the clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that makes the pot useful..." Keep exploring the silence and the stillness. But never stop telling the stories.
Yet more:
DeleteWhat have we got here in America that we believe we cannot live without? We have the most varied and imaginative bathrooms in the world, we have kitchens with the most gimmicks, we have houses with every possible electrical gadget to save ourselves all kinds of trouble - all so that we can have leisure. Leisure, leisure, leisure! So that we don’t go mad in the leisure, we have color TV. So that there will never, never, be a moment of silence, we have radio and Muzak. We can’t stand silence, because silence includes thinking. And if we thought, we would have to face ourselves.
Agnes De Mille
:) Good read! Thanks guys
DeleteThis course was the course I was hoping all performance courses at ETSU would be - a chance to focus on our art in acute detail with thoughtful (and not just saccharine) feedback.
ReplyDeleteSilence - What I've learned from this course, and David's feedback in general, is that silence is just as important as the words we speak before and after. The length and breadth of a silent moment can add intense weight to our intention. It is difficult, and essential, to know just when to harness this great power, and boy, do I need to continue to focus on this aspect during my story development! Just as the words surrounding the silence give the silence deeper meaning, the silence powers the words. What a great concept to begin to understand! This can be used to add laughter, or solace, or really anything in between. Watching my fellow classmates play with silence in their stories helped me to understand the seemingly unlimited possibilities of this tool.
Space - This makes me uncomfortable. Moving around makes me uncomfortable. I think that is good. I would much rather stand at a microphone and rely on my words and gestures to paint the picture of the story than use the space given to me. That being said, I learned so much about the subtlety of use of space. Simply having concentrated gaze when referencing a specific character, or gesturing to the same space when referring to a location, can create worlds in the ether of our stories. Much like silence, concentrated use of space is essential to adding depth and subtlety to our work.
Sound - Another thing I find difficult! Controlling my voice is a challenge. I get nervous using voices, and am in awe of those who can without fear. As David mentioned in class, again it's the subtlety of use of voice that adds richness to our performances. One might not need to adapt a character voice, but instead has the ability to truly know the character one is presenting, which inherently means one will speak "like" them. This is so exciting! As a teller of personal stories, I struggle with how to properly express the characters I feature, because I do know them so well. This idea of making sure their voice is clear and how that will allow me to vocalize that is eye opening. I need to make sure you know who my grandma is so when I speak as my grandma, you see her. I don't need to have a special character voice to do that. I need to have a strong understanding of the person I am attempting to represent, and her voice will simply come through.
Thank you, colleagues and David, for a truly wonderful telling and learning experience!
Blogging Wrap-Up and Blog Notes
ReplyDeleteIn this course we have discussed, mulled over, and experimented with:
February Session I – () Pysical and vocal preparation () Listening () audience appropriateness, perspective, and understanding () use of repetition () brief and pregnant pauses () use of and creation of space () small/micro suggestive movements, facial expression, and vocal tones (aesthetics) () and waiting for the story behind Tama’s statement, “…I don’t type well.”
March Session II – () Utilization of space () Moment-of-silence or pregnant pause () Children: fears and suggestions for tellers () character voices and movement () being heard/understood: plosives, articulation, ice cube words () seeing and connecting with your audience () imaginative creation of space (chair or mic telling)
April Session III – () Words! Oral framing of space, scene, emotion, () vocal dynamics, sounds, pitch – high and low, fast and slow, flat and enthused () again – audience relationship and understanding.
Here I would like to thank each of you for your help in preparing for me for the April 30th Veterans’ Volunteer Recognition Banquet. Your observations, thoughts and suggestions made this storytelling opportunity very special in ways I would not have considered without you. Three of these volunteers received a U.S. Presidential Award for 5000 hours of volunteer service and several got state recognitions for 4000 plus hours. This audience was aged 6 to 90 years old and many were veteran volunteers or family members of veterans. The emotions I observed, in the audience, as I told my stories ranged through smiles, laughter, focused concentration, surprise, and tears with some nodding of heads now and then.
This turned out to be a kind of wrap-up performance of our class topics for me. My presentation of stories required the use of many things we have worked on together (telling from a chair or imaginary mic stand, etc.) all at a podium with a mic and sound that wasn’t the best in this large room of 250 people. Clear articulation was very important. I am not usually separated from my audience in this manner and the mic was not one that I could remove. This meant that word choices, micro-gestures, vocal dynamics all needed adjustments and special attention as I rehearsed. I took your advice and used my voice verses instruments along with several more of your recommendations. Some of the comments I received afterwards went as follows:
“I like the way you had us all sitting forward, elbows on tables, waiting for what might happen next!”
“Oh, that was beautiful, just beautiful.”
“What an amazing voice you have. The flute was lovely though my guitar strings don’t sound quite like yours” (laughter). Lol
“My wife and I come every year, for eight years now, and you’re the best speaker/storyteller we’ve had!” (not sure who/what I’m being compared with here but that was really nice to hear)
“Oh missy, your words, how true how true.”
“A wonderful rendition of Blue Moon, thank you.”
“You even had the children on the edge of their seats.”
I know you can’t truly experience these written words as they were presented but I thought you might like to read the final draft of what you helped me to create –
ReplyDelete2016 Volunteer Recognition Banquet
James H. Quillen Medical Center
Mountain Home, TN
Have you ever considered: the Ark was built by volunteers; the Titanic was built by professionals. How much patience do you think it took to build the Ark? What is patience? Who has patience? How much patience do we need and what inspires it?
Whisker of A Lion
A very long time ago a war broke out in the land and when Owen returned to his home things were different (pregnant pause).
Moira and Owen had loved each other for as long as they could remember. They grew up doing everything together; fishing, playing in the river, collecting fruits and berries on the mountainside, and playing music. Moira played a reed flute, Owen played the guitar and all the village enjoyed dancing to their joyous melodies. As time passed Moira grew into a beautiful, kind, hardworking young woman and Owen grew into a handsome, strong young man full of laughter.
When they married their parents helped them to build a small house at the foot of the mountainside where they had played as children. Moira and Owen had happily worked their little farm for a year when war blighted their land and their happiness. While Owen was gone Moira continually watched for his return. She prayed for his safety as she worked in their little garden by day and with tearful pleadings as she sat by the window at night.
She had cried herself to sleep for four long years when, one day, Owen staggered into the village thin as a skeleton in the rags that hug from his body and gravely wounded. Moira wept with joy and excitement, her Owen was alive, he was alive!! She cleaned him and cared for his wounds. She made him new clothes. She cooked his favorite dishes and fed him lovingly. As his wounds healed she told him stories of events in the village and she played her reed flute to calm his troubled sleep. His flesh wounds healed soon enough but his spirit had not healed.
He just sat by the window and stared at the mountain. He did not play his guitar anymore. When Moira ask him about seeing his old friends or invited him to walk in the garden with her he growled, “Leave me in peace.” He rarely spoke to her, or to anyone else. Sometimes he shoved the food she offered away angrily or threw the dishes screaming, “Leave me alone.“
Moira became angry. She didn't know what to do. So she decided to visit an old sage who lived near the village and ask for a charm that would make her husband gentle and full of laughter again. She told him her troubles and the old sage said, “If you will bring me a whisker from the chin of a living lion you shall have your charm. “But that's impossible! How can I get a whisker from a living lion! Filled with sadness, her heart breaking, Moira left the old man's hut (pause).
Walking back toward the village she struggled through a battered landscape of despair in her mind until she formed a desperate plan. Next morning she inquired about a cave on the mountain where a lion was thought to live. As she left the village she traded her bracelet for a large piece of raw meat. That night she left the house taking her bag of meat and her machete. Up the mountainside she hacked and cut the undergrowth that bloodied her legs, branches that tore at her hair and scratched her face. Finally, she arrived at a small rocky clearing where she spied the mouth of a cave. Trembling with fear she crouched in the cover of underbrush. When her legs would hold her she laid the meat on the ground and in quavering whisper called for the lion to come eat, but he did not come. Quelling her fears she returned, night after night, always stepping a little closer to the lion's cave.
Finally, one night, she moved to the cave entrance and laid the meat at her feet. Suddenly, out of the dark opening a lion's great head appeared. He stood there, his golden eyes staring at her. Frozen with fear she stared back and they looked at each other for a long time in the glowing moonlight (pause). Finally, he lowered his great shaggy head and ate the meat. This became their nightly ritual, him eating at her feet, then dozing as she stroked his great maned head and played her flute. Many months had passed since she first visited the lion's cave. But this night, as she caressed his great shaggy head she whispered, “Dear friend, I must ask a gift of you.” She carefully pulled a small knife from her bag and cut a whisker from his chin.
ReplyDeleteHe did not become angry as she had feared but simply raised his head and looked at her. She played her flute and he relaxed his shaggy head on his great clawed paws. Then she slipped away quietly and ran down the well-worn path, gripping the whisker tightly, until she reached the hut of the old sage. His wise old eyes examined the whisker carefully. Then he asked, “Is your husband more wild and vicious than a lion?” “Do you think he is less responsive to kindness and understanding?” and he tossed the whisker into his cooking fire. “No, no,” cried Moira. “My charm, what have you done, what have you done?” (pause)
“Calm yourself woman,” the old sage instructed. “What have you done? For many months you have climbed the mountain to and with gentle patience won the love and confidence of a wild and ferocious, blood-thirsty beast. You, woman, have all the charms you need within you to do the same for your husband.”
The ancient Greeks understood “warrior care.” The mythical story of Theseus and the Minotaur is an example of their understanding. Theseus was given a sword, because a sword is a good weapon to kill a Minotaur with. But when Theseus entered the Labyrinth a woman gave him a string to spin out behind him so he could find his way back out of the Labyrinth.
ReplyDeleteThe indigenous people of the American continent understood “warrior care.” They engaged those returning from battle in purification rituals; cleansing away the blood and healing wounds – body, heart, and Spirit. This lasted as long as each warrior required to prepare him for reentering the society of his village. We give our warriors weapons and train them to protect us. But we have not yet gained a good working understanding of “warrior care” as it should be. So in many ways our “warriors' care” has come by your hands, the patient, loving hands of volunteers.
About 1995 I was volunteering at the nursing home on the VA campus feeding meals to veterans who lived there. I had heard stories about a particularly grumpy old vet whose wife had died and nothing pleased him anymore. Sometimes his language was unpleasant and on occasion he had been known to throw or spit his food. The day finally arrived that I was assigned to his room for lunch. So there were typically four veterans to a room and we would work quickly to remove lids from plates, open juice cartons, and remove cellophane cases from eating utensils. But this day I entered unsure as to what would greet me. “Who are you?” a man in the first bed growled. I slowed my step and looked at him and the only thought that would come to my mind was “Sing!” Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone, without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own...
All had gone quiet (pause)and then there was applause in the room and the hall. “You're a little thing aren'tcha?” he growled. “Yes sir,” I replied. “You remind me of my little wife,” he sighed, “she used to sing too.” For many months I was assigned to that room for meals, and I always greeted George and his bed buddies with a song. What is patience? Every one of you is the answer to that question. As volunteers you brings a talent, a gift, that you share with the veterans you serve. As volunteers you provide kind, patient “warrior care.” As volunteers you are building a better future for our veterans and our society. And for your service we are truly grateful. Thank you.
Couldn't have done it so well without you all. Thank you
ReplyDeleteApplying a conscious sense of Space and Silence. Find the moment for silence or design it myself.
ReplyDeleteI gave my hand at miming just a bit during my Lucky Charms story. Using space to represent various objects, including a rainbow. I kept my movements contained to the middle-center area of the performance space. I attempted using gazes to further paint the pictures I described and focus through past and present time. I also incorporated energy levels to signify far away past to face to face present. I was not as successful as I had hoped, but I was able to recognize the differences from prior performances of the same story. I could have taken a longer silences, perhaps when in a place of drudger or longingness for the "treats" or when I quote my boyfriend saying "he saved the best for last (allowing this line to sink in). Critiques I received denote a reorganization of imperatives, for example: emphasizing the drudgery (wheat morsels) in order to build toward the sweet release (marshmallows); another element of emphasis.
We discussed the options available when emphasizing different phrases to paint the image a teller truly wishes to create.
Words:
As David Novak has successfully helped us demonstrate in class, words themselves are powerful tools in shaping our stories. Words are the sound dynamics on which our stories ride. In times, when notable parts of our stories lie in silence and in space, our words can help us set tones, shapes, feelings, smells and tastes that do not belong to the words themselves, but in how we choose to say them. Through articulation we create shapes, through vocal style we create flavor and color, and through volume we create punctuation.
Whether using alliterations such as the long and lusty lizard or sweet, savory Sassafras, the connotative elements of using the same consonants can help shape your scene and story. Assonance is another form of rhyme that can be used as colors within your creative canvas. ;)
Our speech as storytellers provide sense and shape when constructing phrasing with all the elements of inflection, legato and staccato pronunciation, and polysyllabic words can all effect the way the audience connects with your story.
Also, Wenny,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!!!! I'm so glad your patience story was received well. You were the perfect person for that event, just as they said ;) I believe we can all say, that this course has propelled our skills as storytellers and performers as well as crafters of story <3 See you this summer!
I know that I'm a little bit late to posting, but I'd like to share a couple things that I've learned from this workshop.
ReplyDeleteFrom this workshop, I learned about the importance of build up and silence. Usually, I fear that my pauses would go on to long or be too short, but I think that the length of a pause is only as good as it's build up. In the first class, it was really cool to explore that rising tension to have it crescendo with a moment of silence.
For the second workshop, I really enjoyed exploring the value of verbals and vernacular. I had taken a voice class with Dr. Reed in the prior semester, and while we studied the value of sounds and linguistics, I really enjoyed playing around with my vocabulary to add that extra umph to my stories.
In the last workshop, I really enjoyed actually work-shopping the content of my adapted story, exploring the character of Jack, what the value the magical coat could be to Jack, and playing around with whether or not Jack would have a plan going into the woods or making it up as he went. It was not only beneficial to collaborate, in that respect, but very fun, as well.
It's been a blast, folks. Thanks for wrinkling my brain.